From:
daneedv@aol.com
Date: 2002-08-17 22:44:37 UTC
Subject: Re: [ferrethealth] Quick question - ADV testing
To: ferrethealth@smartgroups.com
Message-ID: <12728495.1029624277463.JavaMail.root@scandium>
Author wrote:
> Nope..not true Russell! The AveCon test AND the United test, only test for the
> presence of antibodies.
> MC
>
MC - What Russell said is true, according to the Avecon website. While the Avecon tests are antibody tests, they are only supposed to test positive if the virus is replicating. They are testing for the presence of a specific protein in the antibodies that is only present if the virus is replicating. That is why we sometimes see false negatives with the Avecon tests. If the virus goes dorment and does not repelicate for a period, the antibodies will no longer contain that protein, and the test will show a negative result, even though the virus is still present.
I have seen this with several of my ADV+ ferrets. They will sometimes test negative on Avecon tests, while samples taken at the same time and sent to United and/or U of GA will come back positive.
Danee